Posted: 2/24/2012 2:50:44 AM EDT
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What type of wheat (whole not ground) is best for making bread and what are good sources for it.
BravoCharlie |
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BC - if you look on page 2 of this forum you will see a topic called "Wheat Berries?" and there are some good links and numbers for ordering wheat. I like to use hard white winter wheat berries for my bread. Different varieties of wheat will yield different textures and such in your bread. It is fun to experiment if you have the resources to different wheat varieties.
Personally, we now order from the Latter Day Saints Co-op that we found out about on here and I have been very happy with the wheat from them - it's a good price and free shipping. ....and no, you don't have to convert or worry about being converted! 
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I think Wifeofelginrunner is referring to this thread.
My wife makes a lot of bread, we store both hard red and hard white wheat berries. There is not a lot of difference between the wheats, white wheat is simply red wheat that has been modified to eliminate the color gene. Soft wheat can also be used to make breads, however it has less protein and is better suited for lighter things like pie crusts, pastries, etc. |
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Wshbrngr- thanks for putting the link on here....I havent put links in yet and didnt think I could do that from my phone!
The reason I said there is a difference in textures, etc between varieties is because way back when I was a teenager was when I was first taught to make homeade bread- guess I was the nerd teenage girl obsessed with cooking! LOL ....the co-op we had would vary the types of wheat it would sell by the bucket so we got to use a lot of different varieties of wheat berries. We could always tell when we were using different types and got to where we knew what our favorites were and which ones made the best bread. But Wshbrngr is correct in that in general just be sure to stick with the hard wheat for bread and you will be just fine! |
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My wife is similarly obsessed with cooking.
(one of the reasons I married her) Home ground whole wheat does take some getting used to if you normally buy wonderbread. I totally agree that textures are a personal preference. We tend to like a 50/50 mix of red and white in our breads. ETA: My personal experience was that I already liked to eat the whole wheat specialty breads from the store, so the transition to home ground flour was not a big shock to me. |
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Haha....wshbrngr- my husband says the same thing!
Yes, it is something I have pretty much grown up with but there is a curve if you are not used to using it in place of storebought. Something I have now added on is I now make whole wheat pasta (noodles, lasagna sheets, etc) and also have started making whole wheat tortillas which we love. I think I have spoiled our tastebuds now cause we dont luke the storebought anymore! |
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Quoted:
Thanks to all, however I would like to buy bulk, say 100 to 200 lbs. not all just for me. BravoCharlie I guess I do not understand. 
Last trip to the LDS cannery, we (wife and I) bought 24 - #10 cans of Red Wheat and 24 - #10 cans of White Wheat = 5.8lbs X 48 cans = ~278lbs of wheat. Packed in cans with O2 absorbers for LTS, 6 cans to a case, 8 cases total. Easy to stack, hand out / divide up among a lot of people. At today's prices, that would be $168.00 ~0.60/lb. which is not bad for already packed in a convenient size. The LDS also sells 25lb. bags or wheat for $11.45/bag ~$0.46/lb. Again, not a bad price. You would just have to pack it yourself. ETA: Personally, I don't consider 200lbs lot of wheat (anymore). 200lbs of wheat yields 500 cups of wheat berries. (there are about 2.5 cups of wheat berries per lb.) 500 cups of wheat berries will yield about 750cups of flour. (each cup of wheat berries will grind into 1.5 cups of flour) 1 loaf of bread @ 3 cups/flour per loaf = 250 loaves of bread. This assumes no loss during processing. Places like Emergency Essentials sell wheat in buckets (about 45lbs of wheat per bucket). |
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I've got a mix of buckets and cans. Fortunately it's something many of our grocery stores here carry. When it's on sale I pay $18-$20 for a 45lb bucket. Throw a gamma lid on it when it's opened and you're good to go.
I also have many cases of #10 cans I packed at the LDS dry pack canneries. There are many of them local to me and it's an occasional church assignment to go do work there for a few hours. I usually come home with a few cases of something every time I go. The LDS church recommends 25lbs of grains (wheat, rice, corn, etc.) per adult per month. |